Famine in the Horn of Africa, part 1

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This is so true, not just with Americans but also the British!
I live in the UK (England) and people here are very much self-centered. It's a shame they do not stop to think about other people's suffering a bit more. Nice work, Darrin!

This comic came out the same day I got a letter in the mail from Plan International explaining the drought emergency in East Africa and the projects that they are working on to make sure that people, especially children, get the nourishment that they need (in form of both emergency aid and sustainable projects). This affects over ten million people and it is very serious. It's not a question of whether America has an obligation to help. "America" is just some entity that within its arbitrary borders enjoys access to clean water, food, and political stability. We're helping ourselves just fine in comparison with other parts of the world. I feel it's my obligation not as an American, but as a person, to give what I can to alleviate the suffering of some other person on the other side of the world if I can.

ChayaFradle

It's too bad we can't all give our excesses of food in our refrigerators to a pilot who could fly the food there for free.

ChayaFradle

Why can't we feed the whole world? I wish we could.

ion

I may sound cruel when I say this, but I don't feel like America has any obligation to help others when we can't even help ourselves. I think we need to solve our own crisis such as the national debt first before we focus on the other countries.

I don't think America can fix the whole world alone – but to talk about our political issues as if they were the same kind of crisis as this famine does not really reflect the reality of either situation. And I believe it would be worth going into more debt if we could stop the famine.

kenecollier

Exactly. It's too easy to give up or make excuses.

Darrin Bell

Sometimes the best thing you can do when you're suffering is to help others who are suffering even worse. It puts life in perspective.